POMONA >> A look at NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series grandstands throughout the 2013 season would indicate attendance across the country has not been as strong as in the past. The guess by those who attend all 23 national events passes as factual since no official attendance figures are released.

There are possible reasons at the root of the problem. The economy and rising costs are at the top of the list, for both spectators and competitors. Poor weather has been a major player this season, but that’s viewed as uncontrollable.

Just as important, according to hard-core fans of the sport, has been the race distance. Although relatively small in number, but very vocal, this fan base has not accepted NHRA’s 2008 decision to go from the traditional quarter-mile in the premier nitro classes — Top Fuel dragster and Funny Car — to 1,000 feet.

“If NHRA can throw away tradition, then I can throw away my tickets,” Steve Wiedner posted on the Internet, citing he will not travel the 10 minutes from his house to Pomona.

The Glendora-based sanctioning body made the decision following the death of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta in Englishtown, N.J., earlier that season.

Five years later, the talk just underneath the surface at Auto Club Raceway, is whether the sport will return to its roots. The debate was revived by a survey the NHRA recently sent out in an attempt to gauge the fan experience and attendance but also included a question about returning to 1,320 feet.

Although the survey was designed for fans, drivers who have responded to the question are on both sides of the issue. The marketing firm hired by NHRA is still collecting data for its report to the sanctioning body. There is no NHRA timetable for such a decision, but it hasn’t slowed drivers from speaking their minds.

“I’m absolutely 1,000 percent for going back to a quarter-mile,” said Cruz Pedregon, driver of the Snap-On Toyota Funny Car. “I believe changing the size of the venue wasn’t the answer. I think it cheats fans out of more racing — and it can change the outcome of races.

“Imagine the NFL changing to 80 yards or Talladega telling its fans that the cars are too fast so we’re going to a half-mile.”

“We can’t go back to quarter-mile racing unless we slow these cars way down to speeds where we raced 10 years ago,” said Capps. “We would have to slow them way down or we’re going to lose more drivers like we lost Scott Kalitta. That wouldn’t be fair to Scott or his family or to Scott’s fans.

“All we would be doing is showing that we learned nothing from what happened to Scott.”

Although he has one vote in the survey, 16-time Funny Car John Force has perhaps the biggest fan base in the sport. He’s not shy about voicing his opinion.

“I have no desire to go back,” Force said. “I’ve had catastrophic things; I’ve had to deal with things a lot of people don’t deal with. Things the NHRA has to deal with like insurance companies. We went back to a thousand for safety.

“One thing that no one can argue is that if we went back to the 1,320 and something happened, the people would say, ‘Why did you go back?”

A year before the fatal Kalitta crash during qualifying, Force’s race team lost Eric Medlen in a test crash and Force escaped a near-fatal incident.

“Would it have put a few more people in the stands? It might, I don’t know,” Force said. “I think the economy’s got us and that’s where we’re at. And there is cost savings too but that’s not a priority to me — it’s safety.

“I spent a lot of money to improve safety, it’s money that I will never get back. It was never about money, it was about safety and that’s why.”

Safety is a concern, from the Goodyear tires all racers use to the run-off area at NHRA tracks.

“The tire we have now was originally designed to go 1,320,” said Bryce Jones, drag race manager for Goodyear. “We would have to do some testing if the decision was made to return to quarter-mile again. But, as it stands now, we would not change the tires.”

The run-off area at Pomona has always been a source of concern, especially with faster speeds.

“Most of our race tracks that are importantly historical to us, like Pomona, can’t extend their shutdown area,” said Capps. “We can’t add on to Pomona. That’s a fact.”

“It’s been a lot safer. I don’t feel the fear that I used to feel going to 1,320. I just lost a lot of the fear,” said Schumacher, the first to reach 330 mph at 1,320 and 1,000 feet. “If they go back to 1,320, the tracks will have been lengthened so what will happen is they will slow the cars down and the fans will be mad about that.

“They’re not going to let us go 340 on a track at 1,320 with a short shutdown area.”

DSR teammate Jack Beckman is in agreement with that statement.

“One reason we shortened the course is all these safety devices — thicker chassis tubing, head pads — have added weight to the cars and bigger speeds with more weight made (slowing down) an issue at some race tracks,” said the 2012 Funny Car champion. “That necessitated more shutdown area to get that the distance we raced was shortened by 320 feet.”

In the five years since the reduction of length, according to Pedregon, the speeds have caught up to the shorter distance.

“We’re already up around 330 mph, so something is going to need to be done to control speeds soon,” said Pedregon, a two-time Funny Car champion. “If you go to a quarter-mile, it’s up to the NHRA to come up with a rules package to keep cars safe.”

Another issue is insurance. Force said his insurance company would cancel his policy upon a return to 1,320.

“For NHRA to get it passed through its insurance, they are going to have to slow us down,” said Schumacher. “You will have fans unhappy with cars going slower at the quarter-mile than they ever had a 1,000 feet.”

Capps added: “The choice you have to ask fans is would they rather have the power and the raw thundering horsepower and see their favorite drivers catapulted at speeds like nothing else in the world at 1,000 feet or do they want these cars to be slowed way down and go back to quarter-mile racing.”

There are drivers who want to race, regardless of the length.

“I don’t have a problem either way as long as I get to drive a race car at 300 mph,” said Top Fuel’s Spencer Massey. “I raced 1,000 foot and 1,320 in the same season when I raced NHRA (1,000) and IHRA (1,320) in 2010. NHRA made the change because we were going so fast and to slow us down.

“If it will slow us down, as a driver I want to go as fast and quick as I possibly can. Either way, if it will make it a better show, make it safer and we can still go fast then I’m game for a quarter-mile.”

Same way for Beckman.

“I’m OK either way. Even if we’re only going 295 mph and the dragsters are going 305, it wasn’t that long ago when those were stunning speeds in the quarter-mile,” he said. “I don’t think the fans will get less of a treat.”

But a word of caution for fans.

“We have some fans that complain,” said Schumacher, “but they also aren’t buckling themselves into our car on tracks that are too short. Pomona is super short.”